quote: A controversial government initiative to recruit Americans to spy on each other in an attempt to prevent terrorist attacks was quietly killed with the passage of the Homeland Security Act.

First announced by the Justice Department in January, Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System), was initially designed as a nationwide reporting system that would enlist one million workers -– ranging from postal employees to truck drivers –- to tattle on any "suspicious activity" by people along their routes.

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"We worked with Congress to try to implement the program, but ultimately the language was put in (the Homeland Security Act) to prohibit it," said a department spokeswoman.